My life in London (and its environs). "Delusional if rather sweet" – Samira Ahmed

You can take our Beer Bikes, but you can never take our freedom

Today’s Guardian reports that a court in Düsseldorf (world renowned for its many excellent Fußgängerzonen) has ordered a ban on ‘beer bikes’ – basically mobile pubs on wheels, powered by your own drunken feet. Think the semi-mythical Fredalo incident, only on land. With all your mates. On a stag do. Then pissing in the streets.

But fear not: these contraptions are still available in dear old England. I passed one last Saturday during my cycle to the suburbs. It was a bit of a shock.

If memory serves they were parked just off the Putney end of the King’s Road*, and had come to the end of their pedal-powered lager adventure. It’s a shame I didn’t get to see them in full flight. Parked up, they were nice enough – all Australian, inevitably – and happy to pose for a photo. But when I mentioned the ones in Germany they got a bit angry.

“They copied us! Pedibus is the original and best! They’re just rip-offs!”

I wished them well, and headed on my way.

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* West London is a bit of a mystery to me. I saw lots of porsches driven by Jeremy Clarkson look-and-dress-alikes.